Grease gun



Dec. 18,'1928.

x/ZLVL GREASE GUN Filed Nov. 50. 1921 O. ZERK, NOW BY JUDECIAL CHANGE OF NAME O. U. ZERK 25 fore, is the provision of a grease Patented Dec. 1s, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFEICE.

OSCAR ZERK, NOW BY JUDICIAL CHANGE OF NAME OSCAR ULYSSES ZERK, OF CLEVE- LAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ALEMITE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, Ay CORPORATION F DELAWARE. i

GREASE GUN.

Application/filed November 30, 1921. Serial No. 518,755.

This invention is concerned with lubricaling devices and is particularly directed to improvementsin grease guns such as are interchangeablyy coupled with grease cups or 5 nipples secured to the various minor parts of automobiles or other mechanisms.

There has been a variety of grease guns which are adapted to be connected to'lubricating nipples, the latter usually being provided with a check Valve for retaining the lubricant after it has been forced therein under pressure from the grease gun. As some of the nipples are attached to remote parts of the automobile. it frequently occurs that a flexible tube or an articulated conduit is required to attach the gun to the nipple, in positions on the vehicle. In making a careful analysis of all of the posi- `tions in which the lubricating nipples are positioned onthevarious makes of automobiles, I have found that the use of lexible'conduits, or' universal joints on the conduits are not necessary to eiciently couple the gun to the nipples. 'A i 1- The vgeneralobject of my invention, theren having simple but novel oouplin means irectly attached to the gun barrel y a swivel connection; the swivel connection being provided with self-sealing meansand also arranged to 3.0 carry the coupling means, the construction being such that efficiency, as well as economy is maintained by the'use of a minimum number of simple parts.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a simple' manually operated valve adapted to close the passageway froml the gun barrel to the coupling means whereby pressure may be exertedl upon the lubricant in the gun' barrel before the gun is placed in 40 use.

A further object of my invention is to angularly position; said valve means on the gun in such a-man'ner that it may be readily closed before the gun is disconnected from the lubricatin nipple whereby a number of the nipples may e filled without leakage and without necessitating a repetition c f the compressing operation.

An additional object of the present invention is the provision of a novel'valve and coupling construction in alignment with each other and swivelly connected to the gun barrel. The center line of the aligned coupling In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a view of my un provided with nipple coupling means; 4ig.

2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken through the center ofthe gun and coupling n means; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the coupling means provided with a manually operatedvalve.; Flg. 4 is a cross sectional viewtaken along the linel 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Designating the various parts of the-gun by the use of reference numerals, 5 is a grease gun barrel having the usualscrew plunger 6 provided with a suitable handle 7 secured to the outer end thereof. The screw member 6 1s arranged to engage a suitable threaded aperture formed in the end of a removable barrel closure member 8. The handle may have a suitable threaded socket 7 for the vreception of the end of the screw member.

The handle may be rigidly secured to the screw member by exerting external pressure upon the flanged portion 7 b, wherebythe metal may be suliiciently distorted to cause the internal threaded surfacesto firmly grip the threads on the member`6.

I prefer to form the lower end of the barrel into a reduced extension l0 which may be of any desired length.` Positioned in the lower -end of the extension portion 10 is a swivel head 11. This swivel head may havea suitable shoulder engaged by a turned-in portion 10 formed on the end of the extension. A

resilient member 13 may be disposed between a metalliccup member 17 and a disc member 14", which may be pressed into osition before the shoulderlO is formed, bot members be'- ing apertured to permit passage of the grease.

The member 17 kpresses on a resilient cupwasher28. By thus arranging the cu member to contact with the inner Wall of t e barrel portion 10 and the end of the swivel head, the joint becomes self-sealing when a high pressure `is exerted on the cup by the grease.

At relatively low' ressures the cu washer does not become suciently pressedp against washers or washers formed of any porous material will permit the oil to sepa-rate from the grease and filter through.

In Fig. 3 therefore, I have illustrated an alternate swivel construction wherein the self sealing means is shown as comprising a coniform washer 28 loosely mounted on the reduced inner end of the swivel member 11 and a packing member 27 which is composed preferablv of compressed cork'or similar resilient non-fibrous substance. The packing member is compressed between ya coniform surface 11b formed on the swivel member and the washer by a spring member 13a. In this construction the spring member 13 may be of sufficient strength to cause the washer 27 to compress and expand the packing member 26 against the innerwall of the gun barrel with sufficient force to prevent leakage of the lubricant when low pressures are being exerted upon the grease. It is evident that the washer 28 is free to move against the 'packing as the pressure is increased in the gun barrel with the result that at extremelyhigh pressures, the packing is compressed correspondingly and the oil in the` grease will not filter through. v i

By properly proportioning the discharge end of the gun barrel, it is possible to attach the coupling means directly to the gun without detracting from the efficient manipulation orv operation of the device. I obtain this result by having the coupling means disposed atano tuse angle to ,the vgun barrel. Thus, by connecting the coupling means directly to the swivel head 11 and at an angle `substantially 45 from the center line of the gun barrel, it is ossible to quickly and efficiently connect t e gun to any one of a num ber of lubricating nipples disposed about the mechanism to be lubricated.v Hence the feature of arranging the coupling means on the -swivel head at approximately this angle is of l importance in that by doing so I eliminate the necessity of using flexible orfarticulated conduits. The couphn vmeans herein vreferred to "is illustrated an described in my appli-` cation on av grease gun, Serial No; 514,038. In

the present illustration however, have shown a few modifications.

' This device has a tubular body 14 secured .to an externally threaded extension 11'* formed on the swivel heady 11. The body member l14 is adapted to carry self-closing means for sealing the connection between the on each nipple. The outward movement ofthis sleeve is limited by an upset lug 15a abutting a suitable shoulder formed on the coupling member 14. An annular expanslble ring 23 may serve to tilt the jaws 16 about the upset jaw fulcrums 24, when the sleeve 15 is shifted toward the swivel head. The body 14 may have suitable annularly formed grooves for receiving the fulerum portions 24 of the jaws; also a groove for the spring ring 23.

By having the swivel head 11 andthe body body 14 of the coupling means in rlgid relation, it is to be seen that the coupling-means may be rotated about the center of the gun barrel, and at a definite angle thereto. The

particular advantage of this swivel arrangement is that the gun barrel may be rotated while the gun is attached to the nipple. The

,handle may be oscillated through a definite angle without necessitating the removal of the hand, while the grip is intermittently re leased upon the gun arrel to permit the turning thereof when the grease is being compressed by the piston. The external l surfaces. of the gun barrel 5 and its cap mayv be suitably scored to afford a firm gripping thereof.

If it is desired toroduce a pressure in the gun barrel before t e gun is placed in use,

a valve is required to seal the gun barrellwhen the latter is not connected to a lubricating nipple. simple and very eflicient valve construction arranged in the swivel head 11 and in align? ment with the coupling means whereby the passageways leadin from the gun barrel to the discharge mout of the coupling means mayl be closed. The valve comprises a stem 18v aving a needle oint 19 rigidly secured on the inner end thereof. A suitable cup disc 20 may be secured to the outer end of the rstem 18 and serve as a handle therefor.

By making the valve stem in' two parts, namely, the stem proper and the pointed member 19, it is possible to rigidly mount a simple packing means 21 on the valve stem In Fig. 3, I have illustrated a very which will effectively act to'seal the threaded aperture formed in the swivel head for the.

reception of the needle stem. The jpacking means 21 and the needle member 19may first be pressed on the reduced portion 18a of theA stem 18 afterwhich a properly sized thread may be formed on the packin ends ofthe stem member' 18 and needlememmeans and on the enlarged portion 19L o the. pointed` member 19. I prefer to score the opposing .130

ber 19 whereby the packing may be prevented from rotating on the stem.

From the foregoin description of my device, it is apparent t iat I have provided a grease gun having extraordinary features of simplicity and economy ofv construction, and in which a minimum number of parts are used to obtain a gun construction which will meet the commercial requirements of such a device. Furthermore, in obtaining this simple construction, I have sacrificed none of the characteristics which make such a device efficient. Likewise, it will be noted thatif it 4is desired to convert the gun to the so-called pre-pressure type, a very simple valve means may be incorporated in the swivel head which will be accessible under all circumstances when the gun is coupled to the'lubricating nipples and which will not interfere with the coupling of the gun to such nipples as are disposed in confined pla-ces about the mechanism being lubricated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a lubricant compressor having a compressor barrel, a swivel member rotatably mounted coaxial with said compressor barrel, y

acter described, the combination of a com- 4 pressor barrel having a discharge end thereof formed to receive a swivel mechanism, a swivel member coaxial with said compressor and supported by the discharge end thereof, coupling means adapted to connect the compressor to a lubricant receiving nipple, said coupling means being rigidly carried by the swivel member at an angle other than a right angl-e to the axis thereof, and means carried at the end of the compressor to prevent leakage of lubricant between said swivel member and the compressor barrel including a flex-y ible washer and a resilient member, said flexible washer being in abutting relation .with the swivel member. v

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aix my signature.

OSCAR ZERK. 

